


Sealing The Beast

by Higuchimon



Series: Tales of Wind and Water [2]
Category: Digimon Frontier
Genre: Diversity Writing Challenge, Easter Egg Basket Advent, Gen, Love Buckets Write-A-Thon, Small Multichap Competition, Three-Sided Box Challenge, What-if Challenge
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-02
Updated: 2018-04-23
Packaged: 2019-04-17 17:50:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 18,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14194410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Higuchimon/pseuds/Higuchimon
Summary: Ranamon isn't going to be shown up by some ridiculous human just pretending to be a Digimon.  And she'll take any path she finds necessary in order to make sure that doesn't happen.  Nothing quite works out the way she plans.  But when did it ever?  [hiatus:  see profile for details]





	1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Sealing the Beast  
 **Characters:** Ranamon, Izumi  
 **Word Count:** 1,779/39,160|| **Chapter Count:** 1/22  
 **Genre:** Adventure|| **Rated:** PG  
 **Challenge:** Diversity Writing, J14, 1000-2000 wpc; Three-Sided Box, 22 chapters, 1760-1780 words per chapter; Love Buckets Write-A-Thon; Easter Egg Basket Advent 2016, bonus #3, pick a fic with 10,000 words to go and write a minimum of 1,000 words per day for at least a week; What-If: What if Izumi got stuck in her Beast form?; Small Multichap Competition  
 **Notes:** This takes place sometime between episodes 17 and 18, after the Chosen have their D-Scans back.  
 **Summary:** Ranamon isn't going to be shown up by some ridiculous human just pretending to be a Digimon. And she'll take any path she finds necessary in order to make sure that doesn't happen. Nothing quite works out the way she plans. But when did it ever?

* * *

“Rawrgh!” Calamaramon slammed one powerful tentacle against one of the columns, satisfied at the quick way it shattered, leaving nothing but a spray of dust and shards behind. 

But not satisfied at what made her this angry in the first place. She whirled and cracked another one in half, not caring that some of her fellow warriors – Mercuremon for the most part – kept on watching her with a very amused expression. 

She knew, of course. She always knew when someone watched her. So she made certain they knew not to bother her, because right now, the very last thing she wanted was to _be_ bothered. 

_What I want is to have that little girl’s neck in my tentacles!_

It wasn’t enough that she’d found the Beast Spirit of Wind, not in the slightest. It wasn’t even enough that the little human brat actually could be said by some – who clearly needed their eyes checked – that she might even have been _pretty_. 

But just the fact some people could consider it possible, the slimmest, most unlikely chance that there would be some Digimon or even some human out there who thought the Warrior of Wind was prettier than _she was_? 

Not acceptable. Not by any standards, least of all the one that mattered most: her own. 

With a flick of a thought – one that sent a surge of pride through her at how far she’d come in mastering her Beast Spirit – Calamaramon shifted back to Ranamon. Her Beast form came in quite handy when she wanted to destroy something, but when it came to thinking, she wanted to _think_ , not focus on how to move. 

“I presume thou hast vented thy rage?” Mercuremon asked, that wicked smirk still floating on his lips. She hated the very sight of it. 

There wasn’t much that Ranamon didn’t hate, when it all came down to it, with the exception of herself and those Digimon who properly worshiped her as the divine beauty she was. 

“Oh, forget you,” Ranamon snapped, stalking back and forth, most of her mental attention already focusing on what to do about that annoying human. She really wanted to _do something_ to her, something that would make her regret ever coming to the Digital World! 

_So how do I do it?_ It wasn’t the easiest thing to do, in any world, mostly because the girl had all of her friends with her, all the time. 

So could she perhaps separate them? It could be done; they weren’t chained to each other. 

Ew, being chained to _her_. Ranamon refused to even thin about that. 

She slid herself into her favorite pool of water, barely having even noticed leaving Mercuremon behind. Let him stew around or whatever it was he wanted to do. _She_ had far more important tasks to worry about, such as destroying the Warrior of Wind. 

_She thinks she can be a Digimon. It takes a lot more than what she’s got to be one, even if she looks like one and calls herself one. I’ve been a Digimon since the moment I hatched and she thinks she can wander in here and grab a sparkly item and that makes her one?_

Ranamon didn’t think so. Not at all. What she wanted to do was bring home as hard as possible that a human wearing a Digimon skin wasn’t anything more nor less than a human wearing a Digimon skin. 

_Maybe if I take her Spirits away from her?_ It couldn’t be that difficult, not if Grottomon managed to do it. 

On the other hand, they’d done that before, and the brats still managed to find them again, _and_ had defeated Grottomon in the first place. 

Something about Grottomon drifted through her thoughts. She frowned, trying to pin it down. He’d been able to do some interesting things, she recalled. He’d never actually demonstrated what he could do for them, but he’d never had to. Where water was, she could peer out and see, and it didn’t matter how much water there was. 

Ranamon made up her mind in a heartbeat, sliding out of her pool and damply padding her way down to what had been Grottomon’s quarters. No one had gone in there since he’d been defeated, as far as she knew, anyway. What would any of them want with his old junk? 

“I better find something I can use,” she muttered, peering around at the dust-covered possessions. If whatever he did, whatever symbols he used, whatever strange dust that he had possession of, was something that he’d taken to the Village of Beginnings with him, she was going to choose this place as her new practice ground for tentacle attacks. 

She made a good start of it right then, casually dumping everything she could find on the floor and looking for any sign that it could be useful toward her goals. Vases and plates and anything ceramic or porcelain or easily breakable – and some that wasn’t – crashed onto the floor. Ranamon tiptoed past it, sneering at the mess she made. 

“What an idiot. He should’ve tried better not to have such breakable stuff around.” 

Granted, no one had been allowed in here while he’d been alive, but Ranamon didn’t care. She was in here now, and she wanted to find something. 

A long row of books came to her attention and she tossed them over without even taking a look at them. She didn’t know what she wanted, but what could books tell her? 

“Reading is for idiots like Mercuremon,” she muttered, “why should I waste my time with it?” 

She began to turn away, eyes landing on a row of small, delicate ornaments that could possibly be what she was looking for. Then her gaze dropped down farther, to where a loose page drifted aimlessly. 

Her first reaction was just to kick it out of the way. Her second was to stop and stare, since she recognized the drawing on the page: a containment sign, much like what he’d used to restrain the Warrior of Light once. She’d heard about that one, since he’d bragged about it before he’d done it. 

Now she reached down and scooped up the pages, flipping through them to get them back into order. Most of them seemed to only be used by someone with a connection to the earth, which made them useless to her. 

But a few were different. A few caught her attention and she tucked them away carefully. 

_This just might be what I’m looking for._ Ranamon grinned at the thought of what she could do with all of these. It really wouldn’t take long at all, and once it was done, then that girl would know better than to try to compare herself to a glorious beauty like Ranamon ever again. 

* * *

Izumi poked the fire with a long stick, inching a little closer to it. _Why couldn’t we have stayed there a little longer?_ She didn’t like being cold and Akiba Market had been so very _warm_. 

She knew they couldn’t stay there forever; their quest had barely even properly begun she felt sometimes. But just a little longer wouldn’t have been so hard, would it? Long enough to get some food and maybe warm jackets for everyone… 

Junpei settled down next to her, a concerned look in his eyes that she tried not to notice too hard. 

“Your watch is almost over,” he told her. “Mine next.” 

“You should be sleeping, then. We can all use the rest.” The others were certainly getting it, Takuya and Kouji each to one side of Tomoki. Tomoki always took the first watch, which was always the shortest one, though no one out and out said that to him. 

Junpei just shrugged, picking up a stick of his own to poke at the fire with. “I’m not all that tired.” 

She wasn’t sure if she should believe him or not. Even to her, Junpei could lie when it suited him. It just usually didn’t, from what she’d learned. 

Still, it wasn’t such a bad thing to have a companion at the end of her watch. She’d done it for the others in their own turn as well. How well any of them slept tended to go along with how much fighting they did that day. 

The more they traveled, the fewer fights they got into, but the those fights were even harder than before, especially now with those evil Legendary Warriors trailing after them. 

Even knowing they’d defeated one of them didn’t make matters a whole lot better. 

She stifled a yawn, or tried to. Today hadn’t been one of the more fight intensive days of any variety, but she couldn’t quite seem to keep her eyes open by now anyway. _Maybe it’s just all catching up to me._

“Izumi-chan?” Junpei leaned closer to her. “You can go on to bed. We’ve got a long way to go tomorrow.” 

She couldn’t have argued with that even if she’d wanted to. Instead, she pushed herself to sleep and offered him a small smile, one that made his eyes light up. 

“I think I’ll do that. See you in the morning.” She raised one hand to bid him good night and started toward the pile of leaves that would make up her bed for the night. 

She hadn’t taken three full steps before a far too familiar laugh broke out, and framed in the light of the three moons, she could see a column of water rising up from the river they’d camped beside. 

Junpei stood by her side a heartbeat later, while the others surged up out of their leaf-beds in the space of moments, rubbing their eyes, more annoyed about having woken up than anything else. 

“You again,” Takuya grumbled, glaring at Ranamon as she stared down at them. “Don’t you sleep like regular people?” 

“Yeah, can’t you come back tomorrow when everyone’s rested?” Junpei wanted to know. 

“No one asked your opinion, thunderhead!” Ranamon snapped, the water column moving her closer to them. “I came here for _her_!” She pointed dramatically towards Izumi, who sighed. 

“Sure you did. Did you want to fight again?” Given the pummeling that she’d given Ranamon once she found her Beast-Spirit, Izumi didn’t think that was the case. Still, she’d been wrong before. 

Ranamon threw her head back and laughed. Izumi didn’t feel any better, and she doubted her friends did either. 

“If that’s what you think. Come on, evolve, and let’s get started!” 

Izumi didn’t trust this for a single moment. Her earlier clashes against Ranamon taught her one thing: trusting her was a bad idea. 

But she had no other options. 

**To Be Continued**

**Notes:** Ranamon is genuinely fun to write!


	2. Chapter 2

**Word Count:** 3,551/39,160|| **Chapter Count:** 2/22

* * *

"Spirit Evolution!” Izumi declared, D-Scan in hand, the energy of the wind blowing all around her. She couldn’t see anything for a few moments, but she didn’t need to. Power filled her from within and without as she made the change. Up, down, and all around the wind came, wrapping around her and filling her with a power she’d never known she wanted in her life until she came here and found it. 

Being a Digimon counted as one of the most spectacular things that had ever happened to her. Even with not always knowing where one’s next meal would come from or being sure of getting to sleep through the night or so much as walking somewhere without being jumped by an enemy of some kind, Izumi didn’t think she would trade it for anything. 

Though she would gladly have been willing to _try_ to get through a night without having to wake up for a sentry shift change or someone attacking. 

That was her last thought as Orimoto Izumi, at least for the time being. The last of the winds filled her soul and when she opened her eyes again, she stood there as Fairymon, ready to do whatever she must in order to protect her friends. They had their spirits back again, but if Water challenged Wind, then Wind alone could answer. 

Ranamon let out another of her annoying laughs. “I bet you think you’re something special, because you can turn into a Digimon.” She leaned forward, hands on her hips. “Well, trust me, you’re not!” 

“No one said anything about that. If you want to fight, we’ll fight. But if not, get out of here,” Fairymon said, ready to do whatever would be necessary. 

Ranamon sniffed, raising her hands over her head as she did. “Oh, I am definitely here to fight! Rain Stream!” 

A barrage of water barreled straight toward Fairymon, who dodged out of the way with seconds to spare. The more she used her abilities, she had begun to learn, the better she could get at them. Faster, stronger, more agile… and she needed all of that when it came to fighting Ranamon. 

Unfortunately, she couldn’t yet get close enough to Ranamon to unleash any of her attacks, most of which int his form worked far better up close than from far away. 

“You can do it, Fairymon!” Junpei’s voice drifted up from below her, the others cheering for her as well. That was one advantage she knew that she had over her opponent, regardless of how many fans Ranamon had: she had _friends_. 

Ranamon’s eyes sparked scarlet and she brought one hand down, pointing at them. 

“You stay out of this! Whipping Waves!” 

The river wasn’t normally broad enough to really cause them problems, but at Ranamon’s command, a huge wave surged upward, splashing down over all of them. Takuya coughed and shook his head, making a face. 

“Whoa, you really should hand out towels with your showers!” The Warrior of Flame declared. Ranamon just laughed at him. 

“It’s all your own fault! Keep quiet and I’ll get rid of you after I’m done with her!” 

She started to look back toward Fairymon, but the Warrior of Wind hadn’t been idle while her enemy took time to mock the others. She barreled up closer, whirling around to slam her feet rapidly against Ranamon’s torso. 

“You leave my friends alone! You said you were here to fight me, so that’s what we’re going to do!” 

Clasping her hands together, she spun around again, wings buzzing with all of her strength, and smashed her fists into Ranamon’s side, throwing her back. It wasn’t a standard attack, but it worked, and at this time of night, Fairymon wanted results more than precision. 

“You show her!” Junpei shouted, raising and shaking a fist. “I don’t care how wet she gets us, she’s the real wet blanket!” 

Fairymon flashed a grin and a victory sign at him, then darted out of the way of another one of Ranamon’s attacks. 

“You haven’t won yet, girlie! And you’re not going to! I’ve got something waiting for you!” Ranamon laughed again as she conjured up a dark cloud and prepared to launch a Jealousy Rain at them. 

Fairymon launched another series of kicks at Ranamon, hoping to interrupt that before it could hurt anyone else. 

“I _said_ , if we’re going to fight, then we’re going to fight! Not them!” 

“What’s wrong, don’t think I can handle all of you? Trust me, I could beat all of you with both hands tied behind my back! Or no hands at all if that’s what it takes!” Ranamon settled hers on her hips and divided her sneer between Fairymon and the others. “I just don’t think it would be fair to you if I did.” 

Kouji rolled his eyes. “Sure you don’t. Can you wrap this up, I was doing something important.” 

“You were sleeping,” Junpei pointed out. Kouji shrugged. 

“Just what I said. That’s a lot more important than trying to play to her ego.” 

Fairymon tried not to laugh but didn’t have a lot of luck. Ranamon glared back at her. 

“Oh, you’re going to regret that! You won’t believe how much you’re going to regret it!” 

“Talk is cheap. Can you make good on everything you’ve been saying?” The Wind-Warrior wanted to know. She didn’t properly give Ranamon a chance to answer, buzzing in for another barrage of powerful leg strikes that sent her enemy spilling off of her watery pedestal and dropping down into the deepest part of the river. 

The cheers from all of her friends echoed sweet and strong in Fairymon’s ears and she grinned down at them. Ranamon probably wouldn’t come back after this, at least not tonight. 

_What was she doing, anyway? This is the first time any of them have tried to jump us at night before._

Fairymon descended, ready to transform back to human and finish out the night in the arms of sleep. 

“Not so fast!” This wasn’t Ranamon’s voice, and Fairymon groaned. 

It was Calamaramon. 

The gigantic squid Digimon rose up out of the river, in a move that might’ve been far more majestic if she didn’t look like the unholy offspring of a spinning top and something with far more legs than sense. She let out a laugh fit to shake the earth beneath them. 

“Did you think you could get rid of me with that little trick? Not in the slightest! But I’ve got something that’s going to get rid of _you_!” 

Fairymon could not help but roll her eyes. “Sure you are. If this is what you want to do, then let’s finish it. It’s going to be time for breakfast pretty soon and you’re not invited!” 

“You think I’d even want to eat with you? I’d rather make breakfast _of_ you!” Calamaramon declared, pulling herself backwards. Fairymon didn’t want to give her time to attack. 

“Slide Evolution!” Again the winds of change spun around her, only this time she thought they would be far better classified as tornadoes, blowing her power to an even greater level. 

Shutumon stared down her enemy with even more confidence, her metal-coated talons read to slice and dice. “Let’s finish this!” 

“Nero Courso!” Calamaramon didn’t wait another moment, but drew back and blew a blast of raw acid ink right at the Warrior of Wind. Shutumon swept by it, quicker than the eye could see, dragging her claws down Calamaramon. 

“Gilgamesh Slicer!” 

As she blasted into Calamaramon, Shutumon saw the others huddling together, and a gust of wind brought their voices to her. 

“Think we should evolve and lend her a hand? It’s getting pretty rough.” That was Junpei, who kept looking up at her with worry in his eyes. 

“No, I think she can handle it. This is more her fight than ours, anyway.” Takuya, who also looked up and back. 

If Tomoki or Kouji had anything to say about it, there wasn’t time to notice, since Calamaramon recovered from her attack and started spinning toward her, and Shutumon had to give all of her attention to what was going on in the fight. 

Calamaramon raised her arms again, pointing at Shutumon. Shutumon wasn’t impressed; she’d seen this kind of thing before for the Water-Warrior’s attacks. 

This time, however, light or energy began to gather at the tip of Calamaramon’s finger, and that wasn’t the usual thing at all. 

“What do you think you’re doing?” 

“You think you’re so great just because you can turn into a beautiful Digimon! Well, you don’t know the first thing about really _being_ a Digimon!” Calamaramon shrieked. Shutumon shook her head, not at all certain of what her opponent was trying to say. “Let’s see how you like _this_!” 

The energy that lashed forward only clipped Shutumon, but even that clip was enough to send her spiraling downward, dazed and uncertain of what was going on. She could hear noises off to one side, but couldn’t understand what they meant. Water rushed up toward her, and she missed it only due to the swift embrace of metal covered arms. 

“W-what?” Shutumon stared, realizing belatedly that Blitzmon had made it just in time so she didn’t drop down underwater. 

“Are you all right?” 

She blinked a few times, trying to get her head to clear up so she could finish this fight. “Yeah, I’m all right.” She wriggled out of Blitzmon's arms and took to the air once more. “And Calamaramon’s about to _not be_!” 

She didn’t wait another second, but blew towards Calamaramon with all due speed, reading her Wind of Pain as she did. Only this time, the Warrior of Water had her attack ready, and Shutumon flew too fast and too straight to avoid it. 

Energy of a kind she’d never felt before slammed into her hard, throwing her backwards. Blitzmon didn’t get there fast enough this time, but she could hear him and the others crying out for her. She fell deep, deep, deeper into the water than she’d ever been before, even when she found her Beast-Spirit. She’d had no idea that this river could be that deep or that it could hurt so much to fall into it. 

Calamaramon’s laughter followed her downward. It would take too much strength, far more than she had right now, to strive to get back up and fight. She’d finish this another time. Calamaramon could have one victory, just this once. 

Shutumon closed her eyes, her brief moment of clarity and anger gone, and let the water take her as far as it wished to go. 

**To Be Continued**

**Notes:** Writing Digimon fights is _very difficult_.


	3. Chapter 3

**Word Count:** 5,331/39,160|| **Chapter Count:** 3/22

* * *

Calamaramon couldn’t stop laughing. She didn’t even want to. Lightning crackled all around Blitzmon’s hands, his head jerking from where Shutumon vanished under the water to the squid warrior who thought this was the most amazing and hilarious thing that she’d seen in her entire life. 

“Oh, she’ll be all right… maybe!” Calamaramon managed to wheeze out. “Slide Evolution!” 

She reverted back to her preferred beautiful form, touching the sides of her head to make certain everything was back where it needed to be. None of the warriors, all of whom stood in front of her now, seemed to care. 

Silly humans. They just didn’t appreciate true beauty where they saw it. Another failing humans had. She’d lost track of them all by now. 

“She’ll turn up sooner or later, I guess.” Ranamon shrugged. “But she’ll be a little different when she does.” 

Blitzmon moved in closer. She’d never been all that fond of thunder or lightning, really, and saw no reason to remain around when she could get a much better view from their base anyway. 

“What are you talking about?” Agnimon wanted to know. “What did you do to Izumi?” 

“You’ll see when she gets out of there. You know, assuming that she does. I mean, I didn’t kill her… I think. So I don’t know if she _will_ show up again.” Ranamon touched one finger to her chin. “But if she does, you’ll see. And that means, I’ve got to go! Bye!” She waved her fingers at them before diving back under water, sliding through it until she resurfaced in her home pool. 

Once certain that she’d made it back safely and there wasn’t anything they could do to follow her, Ranamon bent over and laughed even more, until she had next to no breath in her lungs and had to dip her head underwater to calm herself down. 

“And just what hast thou done that is so amusing?” 

Mercuremon stood by the side of the pool, giving her a very thorough looking over. Ranamon rolled her eyes at him and flipped over so she could rest her elbows on the side of the pool. 

“I’ve done something very _nasty_ to that silly little human girl.” Ranamon’s favorite smile slashed over her lips. “If she wants to play at being a Digimon, I made sure that she’s not going to stop playing for a long, long time.” 

Mercuremon took a step closer. “And this is why Grottomon’s room doth look as if a hurricane did wreck it?” 

“Yes, that would be me,” Ranamon agreed, kicking her feet happily. “I found a book on that sigil magic he used a couple of times.” 

Mercuremon said nothing and Ranamon pouted. She’d done something amazing and she wanted him – or anyone else – to acknowledge her perfection. 

“I put a sigil of sealing on her. She can’t change back from her Beast form.” 

Mercuremon tilted his head a little, thinking this through. At least she hoped he was; the more someone admired her genius, the better she liked it. 

“And why that one in particular, when the Beast form is the more powerful of the two?” 

Ranamon waved one hand. “Because she’s a _human_ at heart. A Digimon wouldn’t care about being in human or beast form. It’s all the same to _us_. But a human trapped in Human form wouldn’t be any problem at all. They could get along like that.” 

She leaned forward now, smiling, thoroughly enjoying every moment of this. She would have to watch all of those silly humans for herself to savor it to the fullest. 

“But humans and Beast forms _don’t_ get along. Even _we_ had trouble with ours.” She preened; she knew she hadn’t had problems for long, and it was mostly because Calamaramon wielded so much power. She’d needed to adjust, nothing more. 

Mercuremon looked as if he wanted to say something, but didn’t. She kept going. 

“She’s going to lose herself in that form. She won’t even remember _being_ human. And then I’ll take the sigil off and she won’t know what to do! She’ll be totally helpless and that’s when I’ll finish her once and for all!” 

Oh, she could not wait for that. It couldn’t take all that long. A few other ideas coiled into being in the back of her mind that would speed the process up. She really couldn’t think of why she hadn’t come up with this idea sooner. 

Mercuremon chuckled a bit. She didn’t always like his laugh. It sounded as if he knew something she didn’t, and she _really_ didn’t like that. 

“Perhaps this will indeed be a way to defeat those foolish humans for good and all. We shall see, shall we not?” Mercuremon intoned. Ranamon waved her hand again. 

“Of course it’ll work. What could go wrong?” 

He laughed once more, with even more implications that he knew more than he was saying about what was going on. “We’ll see if it does.” 

Ranamon sniffed, turned herself over in the pool, and lifted her head to call for food. There weren’t many Digimon around here who weren’t herself, Mercuremon, Arbormon, or Duskmon, but the ones that lived there took the role of servants to the four of them, as well as Cherubimon-sama when he chose to grace them with his presence. She’d put in a hard night of work already and she wanted to have something to eat and rest. 

Tomorrow was going to be an amazing day and the better rested she was, the more she’d enjoy every moment of it. 

* * *

“Izumi-chan! Shutumon!” Blitzmon called out over and over as he flitted from one side to the other, trying with all of his might to find any sign of her. After that fight, she might have passed out, he told himself. She’d be _all right_ , but she probably just couldn’t answer him right now. 

He kept telling himself that. It kept him going as time ticked by and there wasn’t any sign of her anywhere. 

Already the sun began to light up the eastern sky – they thought the sun rose in the east and set in the west here and hadn’t asked Bokomon or Neemon mostly because trying to figure out what to do if they didn’t wasn’t something any of them wanted to bother with – and he could feel the results of not having had what sleep he usually managed to get. 

But the idea of sleeping while Izumi wasn’t there and they had no idea of where she _was_ wasn’t one that would occur to any of them. So they’d split up: he and Tomoki took this way, with him in the air and Tomoki searching the ground, and Takuya and Kouji searched the other way down the river. Bokomon and Neemon remained at camp, in case she showed up while they searched. 

“Izumi-chan!” He called out again, then looked down to see where Tomoki, currently evolved into Chakmon, moving as fast as he could get himself to go. “Any sign of her?” 

The Warrior of Ice shook his head at once. “Nothing. What about you?” 

“Not here, either.” Blitzmon refused to let his disappointment show. He turned his gaze farther down the river. Was that a little shimmer of something? Sunlight on armor? It _could_ be, couldn’t it? 

He rushed along that way, gesturing Chakmon to follow, and tried to ignore the way his heart stuck in his throat. If it was her… if she were injured because of what happened in the fight… 

Well, she’d be all right. He had to believe that. 

The shimmer he saw wasn’t Shutumon, Fairymon, or Izumi, or anything of hers. Just a spill of rocks, with some parts of it sparkly to catch the sun. 

“Blitzmon?” Chakmon caught up to him. “Everything all right?” 

“Yeah.” The Warrior of Thunder gave a quick dismissive wave. “I just thought I saw something, that’s all.” He tried not to look at the rock and to ignore the way his heart twitched. Where was she? What _happened_ to her? “Come on, let’s go back. I don’t think she would’ve gotten this far.” 

Chakmon nodded and Blitzmon rose back into the air, taking one more look around. He’d wanted to find her here, or anywhere, so much. He’d keep looking anywhere he needed to. 

He wasn’t going to give up on her. He couldn’t. He wouldn’t. 

* * *

“What do you think about what Ranamon said?” Agnimon asked, tugging some of the foliage out of his way. This part of the forest didn’t have any clear paths through it, and he didn’t think it was too likely that Shutumon had ended up this way. They were going upstream, she’d probably have been swept downstream. 

He really tried not to think about what would happen if Blitzmon found her and she wasn’t in perfect condition. He’d probably try to find Ranamon and fry her on the spot. Agnimon didn’t think he could be blamed for that at all. 

_Same thing any of the rest of us would do._

Wolfmon roamed through the higher reaches of the trees, up where they weren’t so thick and tangly. Agnimon kind of suspected that he’d rigged the coin toss they’d done to see who went up and who went down. 

“I don’t know what she was babbling about. I don’t think _she_ knew what she was babbling about. How could she trap Izumi like that, anyway?” 

Agnimon shrugged, seeing what he thought was a clearing ahead and moving toward it. He could hear the river still, but there wasn’t enough clear space to walk near it. That made searching a lot harder. That was also why the two of them searched the way they did. If one of them missed something, the other one would catch it. Or so they hoped. 

Wolfmon must’ve seen that area too, since he started to head toward it. The two of them landed next to one another, wary of any potential attackers, and checked out everything. It only took a handful of moments to come up with the results. 

“Not here.” Wolfmon shook his head. “Let’s go back. The others are probably waiting for us.” 

Agnimon eyed farther downstream; the forest thinned out here and it could possibly be easier to search. But every moment that passed meant another one where they could get attacked, or worse, Blitzmon and Chakmon, or Bokomon and Neemon could be. 

“All right,” he said, when what he really wanted to do was keep on searching. It just wasn’t worth the arguing that would follow. They could come back this way later if they had to. 

He just hoped they wouldn’t have to. 

**To Be Continued**

**Notes:** Where is Izumi? Next chapter tells!


	4. Chapter 4

**Word Count:** 7,089/39,160|| **Chapter Count:** 4/22

* * *

Izumi tried to move. She discovered at once that wasn’t a good idea, not with silver shining bolts of pain coursing through her the second she attempted to lift her head. She put it back down and kept her eyes closed, trying to put together everything that happened. 

They’d been camped for the night. Then Ranamon showed up. She’d been even more annoying than the last time, and Izumi hadn’t even thought that could be possible. 

The two of them fought. That wasn’t so surprising. Ranamon didn’t like her in the slightest, and the more times their paths crossed, the more Izumi didn’t like her. This time hadn’t made it any better. 

Ranamon did _something_ to her after she evolved to Shutumon. Izumi wasn’t at all certain of what it was, only that it _hurt_ , and after that, everything remained a blank. 

Slowly she tried to open her eyes again, hoping that she could see something familiar. One of the others. A fire crackling. Even Ranamon might’ve been worthwhile, since then she could find out what exactly happened. The Warrior of Water wouldn’t be able to stop herself from gloating. 

What met her gaze instead was a tiny little Digimon who’d been sniffing at her. She blinked at it, and it squeaked something she couldn’t understand. Before she could even ask who it was, it bounced off out of sight, squeaking with every movement. 

Well, that wasn’t the best way to wake up. She breathed in carefully and it wasn’t like she normally did when waking up. Her hair didn’t feel as if she needed to brush it, for one thing. 

That was strange in and of itself, because her hair _always_ needed to be brushed when she woke up. If she’d known she’d be going on this kind of adventure, she would’ve packed her favorite brush anyway. As it was, she had to make do with her hands every morning and whenever the wind got too aggressive. 

Being the Warrior of Wind didn’t give one any perks when it came to the tangle department, unfortunately. 

She started to look around, wondering if the little Digimon or some of its friends would come back, and where she was, which she needed to know whether or not they did. 

The river coursed on by, though she couldn’t see it. All she recognized it by was the sound of water over rocks. Trees rose a short distance away, and the usual sounds of a Digital World forest clicked and twittered and murmured from everywhere. 

No sign of the others, either. She’d have to get up and find them. Well, it wasn’t as if this was the first time they’d been separated. Just the first time she’d actually hurt so much when it happened. 

Izumi started to look down at herself, when something on her arm caught her eye. She blinked, shook her head, and closed her eyes for a few seconds before she opened them and looked again. 

She wasn’t Orimoto Izumi, at least not right now. She was and she wasn’t. 

Just like always when she’d evolved to Shutumon. 

She tried to move her arm, more than a little startled when the arm she stared at moved. It really was hers. She really was still evolved to Shutumon. 

_I guess I just need to change back?_ The few times they’d been knocked out in a fight, they always changed back without needing to think about it. So why hadn’t she this time? 

She’d figure it out later. She concentrated, remembering what it was like to be human, to be tied to the ground and unable to fight, to be just Orimoto Izumi. 

Nothing changed. Her armor remained where it was. She closed her eyes and tried again. Maybe if she stopped being Shutumon she’d not hurt as much. The change would make a difference of some kind. 

But no matter how hard she tried, she stayed Shutumon. She stared down at herself, trying to work out some idea of what happened. All she could think of was what Ranamon did to her, and she still couldn’t be certain. But that was the only thing that made a shred of sense. 

_All right. So she did something. That means I have to find her and get her to take it off. Or break it myself._

A worry nibbled at the back of her mind: what if she _couldn’t_ find Ranamon, or Ranamon wouldn’t take it off, or she couldn’t get rid of it herself? She didn’t know everything about the Digital World: none of them did. Even Bokomon and Neemon came across things they didn’t know anything about. Something like being trapped as a Digimon certainly couldn’t have happened that often. No one else could become a Digimon but them, and there weren’t any other humans in the Digital World. 

Setting her teeth, she forced herself onto her feet, ignoring the ripples of pain that came when she did. She wasn’t going to stay here in the mud until someone _possibly_ found her. First and foremost, she needed to find the others. They could work out what to do from there. 

She refused to admit that she was actually scared. The idea of being trapped in her Beast form made her guts twist and ice over in terror. She’d seen how the others had been in theirs, wild and uncontrollable. That hadn’t been a problem for her. But who knew what Ranamon’s trick could do to her? 

_Which way do I go?_ She had an idea that this was the same river that they’d camped next to when Ranamon showed up, which meant going _that_ way would probably lead her back to the others. Unless they’d moved on without her. 

And that assumed that this really _was_ the same river. Ranamon could’ve sent her anywhere through the water, couldn’t she? 

“Well, I won’t find them standing here,” she muttered, looking up. The skies looked fairly clear, but the idea of trying to fly wasn’t one she really felt that comfortable with right now. Not with the way she ached from top to toe. She didn’t think she’d broken anything; nothing _felt_ broken. But she still didn’t want to take the chance. 

Even though the more she looked, the more she could feel a slight inner tug that said the skies were where she belonged, to stay on the ground, especially near the water, was a very bad idea and one she shouldn’t even consider. 

Steeling herself, Izumi started through the clearest bit of forest she could find, hoping that the pain would ease off enough so she _could_ fly soon enough. That would get her back to her friends a lot faster than slugging through the trees would, and she held onto a thin hope that someone would know how to fix this. 

* * *

Izumi had no idea of how long she muddled her way along the bank of the river, only that she was tired, she was hot, and her aches and pains hadn’t eased more than the slightest. She hadn’t had any breakfast, since the trees here weren’t the type that had any sort of edible things growing on them, and only the river itself kept her from dying of thirst. 

She didn’t see any Digimon, though she could hear a few sounds that deeper instincts told her were other Digimon. None of them came anywhere close enough for her to see them, so she had to guess they weren’t dangerous. Or at least they weren’t interested in attacking her. That would go under ‘not dangerous’ as far as she was concerned. 

Those same instincts refused to allow her to let her guard down for even a few moments. It made no sense to relax, they whispered, not when the Warrior of Water could rise up at any moment, and if she didn’t, there would be other servants of evil who could try to attack, and she would be hard-put to fight against some of them. 

A small thought spurred off from that. She already knew she couldn’t revert to being human. She kept on trying, in case the curse broke by itself after a few hours, but she hadn’t yet tried to Slide Evolve. It was worth a shot. 

“Slide Evolution!” For a few seconds, she almost thought she could do it. Every part of her hummed, but nothing actually changed, until she drooped, trying to catch her breath and not having the best luck at doing so. 

_All right, so I can’t evolve and I can’t change back. I’m stuck like this._

She stared down at herself for a few seconds. There were probably worse ways she could be stuck, though she couldn’t think of any right away, aside from not being able to evolve from human. She’d had a taste of that without her Spirits, and that had been more than enough. At least she could fight like this. 

Shaking her head, she kept on going. The aches were finally starting to ease off to the point she could imagine taking to the skies very shortly. If nothing around here wanted to attack her, then she’d be able to catch up on lost travel time, and would be with her friends soon. 

* * *

Above, the sun reached the zenith, though Izumi couldn’t quite tell that from the way the forest’s branches closed overhead. Still, she could tell too much time had passed just by how hungry she was. She came to a quick decision at last. 

_Might not be able to fly, but I can at least climb._ And maybe that would give her a few ideas on which way she could go. If she got really lucky, she’d be able to find something to eat. 

Picking a likely tree, she scrambled up there, boosting herself with tiny gusts of wind as she did. More of her aches had faded by now and she thought she’d really be able to fly if she could get some food in her and maybe some sleep in a warm place. 

On her way up the tree, she drew eye level with a nest of some kind. She tried to figure out what sort of Digimon would live here, before that tiny whisper of information slipped into her mind. 

_Saberdramon._ An image of night-dark feathers and sharp talons skittered through her mind. Not the most powerful of Digimon, but not one she wanted to irritate either. 

She started to work her way past the nest, but she hadn’t gone far before a fierce battle cry shaped itself into words. 

“Black Saber!” 

**To Be Continued**

**Notes:** Well, of course she'd get into trouble along the way. Where's the fun if she had an easy trip?


	5. Chapter 5

**Word Count:** 8,876/39,160|| **Chapter Count:** 5/22

* * *

Shutumon threw herself backward the moment the attack registered in her mind. More information coursed in and she let it; Saberdramon, a generally good Digimon, but in these days of Cherubimon, one could never be absolutely certain. Given her power level, Saberdramon’s attacks might not cause too much damage, but taking into account her not quite perfect condition, it would be better not to get hit at all. 

So she leaped off the branch, taking to the air with ease, as the dark claws passed a little too close for her personal comfort. 

“Saberdramon!” Shutumon shouted. “What are you doing?” 

There wasn’t an answer, save for the great bird Digimon to circle around and stare down at her with scarlet eyes of rage. Shutumon prepared herself for a fight. Controlled opponent or not, she wasn’t going to go down helplessly. 

Again Saberdramon darted down, almost too fast for the human eye to see. 

At this moment, not only was Shutumon not human, but the part of her that _was_ human remained quiet and out of sight. This was a Digimon battle and Orimoto Izumi had no place in it, and knew that very well. 

Quick as could be, Shutumon avoided the second strike, and wasn’t surprised to see Saberdramon circling back around, wings moving in a pattern her instinctual knowledge told her would result in a different attack altogether. 

Dodging came easily to her; she was the wind, after all. But the wind could do more than move out of the way: much, much more. 

Dark feathers flew down toward her and Shutumon spun in a circle, creating a wind of her own. This might’ve been a little easier with Fairymon’s wings, but it wasn’t impossible. If anything now, the wind whipped up harder than it would have with Fairymon, rising from a gentle breeze to near gale force strength in a matter of seconds. 

Her winds caught the feathers flying toward her and knocked them off course, one and all, their sharp edges burying them in tree branches, trunks, and the ground. If any of those had hit her, it would’ve wrecked her day even more than it already had been. 

But she wasn’t going to sit there and let Saberdramon attack again. 

_Time to go on the offensive!_

Shutumon rose up higher into the air and spread her arms, her legs slamming together in the same moment. 

“Gilgamesh Slicer!” 

With the full power of the wind behind her, she slammed toward her opponent, pushing Saberdramon back, the black wings now beating faster and faster in an attempt to keep the giant Digimon in the skies. 

Shutumon wasn’t having any of that, not today. Her Gilgamesh Slicer powered into Saberdramon, knocking her back, and sending up a ring of data all around her. 

“Got it!” Shutumon declared, the D-Scan appearing in her hand. She didn’t know where it rested when she was evolved, but now wasn’t the time to wonder, either. Instead, she turned it toward Saberdramon. “Let the holy winds cleanse you!” 

Energy wrapped all around Saberdramon, blotting the Digimon from view for a handful of moments. When it all faded away, Saberdramon flapped great wings and came to rest on one of the nearest branches, tilting their head to look down at Shutumon. 

“I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?” Saberdramon spoke in a quiet, rich female voice. 

Shutumon landed on a branch that brought her about equal with Saberdramon’s head. “No, I’m all right.” Most of her aches and pains had eased by now, and getting up in the air definitely helped far more than she’d imagined it would. “What about you?” 

Saberdramon slowly shook her head. “I’m fine, thanks to you. I don’t even know why I attacked you.” 

“I suspect it had something to do with Cherubimon,” Shutumon suggested. “But you’re free of his influence now.” 

“Thank you very much,” Saberdramon bent her head gently. “Is there something else I can do for you, in thanks for this?” 

Shutumon opened her mouth to say no, then hesitated. “I’m searching for my friends. They could look like humans or Digimon. They’re the other Legendary Warriors: Fire, Light, Thunder, and Ice.” 

Saberdramon clicked her beak together in thought. “I don’t think I’ve seen anyone like that.” She tilted her head to the side and bent forward to look more closely at Shutumon. “You are the Legendary Warrior of Wind?” 

“Shutumon,” she said, nodding in her own turn. “Thank you, though.” She wished Saberdramon had at least been able to give her directions, but she knew she’d have to manage this herself. 

“Can I at least invite you to dinner?” Saberdramon offered. “The hunting is good around here.” 

Shutumon didn’t know what Saberdramon ate. Her beak looked made for tearing flesh apart and her claws for grabbing onto whatever she wanted. And the idea of having something to eat appealed far more than she had thought it would. At least it couldn’t be a Digimon; that wasn’t a general _thing_. Not to mention that Digimon didn’t last long once they died anyway. 

“I would be honored,” she said. “But you don’t need to go to any trouble on my behalf.” 

Saberdramon shook her head without hesitation. “It’s not a trouble at all. Would you like to go hunting with me?” 

More of Orimoto Izumi came to the front, now that the battle was over. It wasn’t an easy return at all, but the idea of eating helped a lot. 

“I should probably get some firewood, actually. I can’t eat raw food.” She decided not to mention fruits or vegetables, or that she wasn’t sure if she could start a fire on her own. Usually Takuya or Kouji managed it, Junpei sometimes. She’d just gathered the wood. 

She’d figure it out. She didn’t really have that much of a choice. 

* * *

Six gathered around the burning fire, where seven should’ve been. Stopping for noon had been Tomoki’s idea, more because his stomach kept complaining loudly than any other reason. They still hadn’t come up with any sign of where Izumi could be, and no one wanted to say any of the darker thoughts that loomed in their minds. 

Junpei nibbled on one of the pieces of fruit they’d picked. Bokomon told them its name when they’d been harvesting the local trees for lunch, but it slipped his mind, and as long as it wasn’t poisoning him, he didn’t care that much. He couldn’t stop worrying about Izumi, even if he didn’t voice them out loud. 

_Is she getting something to eat?_ She had to. She’d need it. 

He made a point to put some of the fruit in his pockets, ready to share the moment they found her. He wouldn’t even let himself think they might not, except in the sense that she might find them. But they would always get back together. No one would ever stay lost for good. 

Bokomon kept turning the pages in his book, muttering to himself in between bites of his own share of food. What Ranamon told them confused them all, and he’d dedicated himself to looking up anything at all that would help them help Izumi when they found her. 

“Find anything yet?” Takuya asked as he buried the cores. Bokomon blinked and looked up, rubbing his head for a second. 

“Not yet. I might well need to see what was actually done before I can find anything useful.” 

“It would help if we could find her, or she finds us,” Kouji muttered. “You think Ranamon’s going to go after her?” 

“I hope not.” Tomoki’s gaze flicked from one to the other of them. “But if she did, she said that what she did made Izumi not be able to change out of being in her Beast-form, right? And that’s her strongest form.” 

Junpei could see where Tomoki was going with that. Only he saw something else as well. 

“If that’s the case, then why do it at all? You’d think she’d trap her in her human body, so she couldn’t fight at all.” He dug his fingers into the ground at his feet, scooping up a bit of earth and letting it run through his fingers, more for wanting something to do with his hands. He didn’t think he could play any of his magic tricks right now. None of them felt right. “So if she trapped Izumi-chan in her _strong_ form, then there’s got to be a reason for it. One we’re not going to like.” 

That was why he wanted to find her before Ranamon did. One of the many reasons he wanted to find her before Ranamon did. 

Takuya and Kouji looked at each other and Junpei could almost hear the thoughts in their minds. The same one as his: this is going to be a really _big_ problem. 

To make it even worse, for all they knew, this was just something their enemies were using just to test out a new weapon against them. If Izumi could be trapped, then what could happen to the rest of them? 

* * *

Ranamon toyed with a spray of water, not taking her eyes off of the images before her. She didn’t do it often, but being able to track people who were near water came in _so handy_ on more than one occasion. She didn’t waste her time with the _other_ so-called Legendary Warriors, the ones who were human. Not right now, not when she had a much more entertaining view of Shutumon. 

_So should I send some of my fan club after her or what?_ She didn’t want to go after the other Warrior personally, not just yet. Not until she knew that Shutumon was Shutumon and the chances of the human having any effect on what was going on wouldn’t exist at all. 

Just because Shutumon could calm down one little birdbrain didn’t mean she could fight off some of those who understood the perfect truth that Ranamon was the most perfect beauty of the entire Digital World and probably any other world as well. 

_All worlds_ , she told herself. _I’m the most beautiful person in every world that’s ever existed or will exist or could exist!_

Satisfied with that, as she was every time she reassured herself of it, she focused once more on Shutumon before starting to check on which of her fans in the area could do something interesting and possibly fatal about the Warrior of Wind. 

_Oh, this could be fun!_ She let out a ripple of laughter before rising up out of her pool and dismissing the scene before her with one hand. Everything was going just the way she wanted. 

**To Be Continued**

**Notes:** So, adventures happen. As they do, whether or not the group is together.


	6. Chapter 6

**Word Count:** 10,651/39,160|| **Chapter Count:** 6/22

* * *

Saberdramon chewed on a hunk of something that Izumi couldn’t get a proper look and didn’t think that she really wanted to. Whatever the flying Digimon brought back, it wasn’t recognizable when she dropped it down beside the pile of sticks Izumi managed to gather together. She’d just gotten to work trying to make the fire and have something that resembled a hot meal. 

“Did you see anyone while you were hunting?” That kind of was more important to her than anything else except getting the fire going. She wanted any chance for her friends to turn up to be hunted down quickly. 

Saberdramon shook her head, swallowing a large chunk of lunch. “I must say that I wasn’t looking, though. But I saw nothing out of the ordinary.” 

That would have to do, as much as Izumi didn’t like it. After she ate, she’d get back in the air. That would make finding them a lot faster, at least. 

With far more effort than she wanted to ever admit to, the fire slowly sparked into life, and she bent to stir it a bit more, waiting until the flames leaped up bright before going over to get some of the meat for herself. It wasn’t like staking out a meat apple by any means, but it would have to do. 

_Really, I wonder what it is._ What other kinds of creatures lived in the Digital World? Or was it from something else altogether? 

In the very back of her mind, the place where all information about Digimon and the Digital World lived, normally only coming forward when she was in the midst of battle, a soft thought stirred. She punched it down without hesitation, partly for not wanting to know, partly for the fact she didn’t like _how_ she knew. 

_The longer I’m Shutumon, the less I feel like **me**._ In a fight, that was a good thing. A human couldn’t stand up to a Digimon and win without help of some kind, and their Spirits were that help. 

Only she didn’t think they were supposed to stay evolved as long as she had or as long as it looked to be in the future. It didn’t feel right. 

Ruthlessly she pushed the idea away and stared down at the fire as it licked at her lunch. 

“You are a strange Digimon, Shutumon,” Saberdramon said, catching her attention. The giant bird peered down at her. “I’d heard that the Spirits of the Legendary Warriors have been taken by humans.” 

“Yeah. I’m human under this.” She waved a hand at her armor. She saw no reason to deny it, since every other Digimon they’d met knew about humans and the Spirits anyway. “I’d change back if I could, but I can’t.” 

“And why is that? It shouldn’t be a problem, should it?” 

Izumi sighed a long and heartfelt sigh. “It shouldn’t, but thanks to Ranamon, it is.” 

The tilt of Saberdramon’s head indicated the other wanted her to keep going. There wasn’t much of the story to tell, in all honesty, and she did so in few words. Once she finished, Saberdramon fluffed her wings and chewed on the last bit of her dinner. Izumi did not look closely enough to see if it moved or bled still. She told herself Saberdramon was a gigantic bird and it would be ridiculous to think that such a bird could keep going on seeds, especially not with a beak like that. 

But that didn’t mean that she wanted to actually _know_ that whatever Saberdramon ate could very well have been chatting with its friends earlier in the day. 

“I’ve heard many stories about what sigils and seals can do,” Saberdramon said once she swallowed her dinner. “But all I know of erasing them is that water can wash away any such thing.” 

Izumi scrunched her face up. At least she thought she did; with Shutumon’s armor covering half of her face, she couldn’t be certain if the expression made it through or not. But she knew what she thought about it. 

“Ranamon’s not likely to do something like that for me.” That was the whole point of doing this in the first place, to torment her for Ranamon’s pleasure. Or something like that. She couldn’t really guess at what Ranamon wanted out of this, since it didn’t make any sense to her. 

“Oh, I don’t know!” Ranamon rose up out of the river, standing on the surface without any effort at all. 

_Show-off._

The Warrior of Water moved forward, every movement dance-like and graceful. Shutumon rose to her feet at once, hovering a few inches off the ground, ready for a fight. 

“What do you mean by that?” Shutumon could already feel the awareness that was Izumi fading away, ready to return once this was over with. Battle time was her time. 

Ranamon laughed, looking her up and down. “Oh, you are in _such trouble_ , aren’t you? Looking good isn’t going to help with _your_ problem… not that you look good.” 

Shutumon darted forward, ready to knock some of the smug off of Ranamon, but pulled to a halt when Ranamon pointed one finger toward Saberdramon. 

“Watch yourself! Just because your friends aren’t here doesn’t mean I can’t hurt someone. It might not be you, but I can still do it!” 

Shutumon snarled under her breath, hands tightening into fists. “What do you _want_?” 

“You’re already figuring out what I want: that you’re a Digimon, even if you’re just pretending to be one right now.” Ranamon brought up her other hand to prop her chin on, large red eyes sparkling with a kind of evil glee Shutumon couldn’t remember seeing in anyone else before. “But it’s not that much of a pretend anymore, is it?” 

Shutumon tensed even harder. “Look, just say what you’ve got to say.” 

“I did already.” Ranamon let out a long laugh. “You don’t even understand what’s going on! This is _fabulous_!” She whirled in place, one hand still pointed dangerously near to Saberdramon, ready to let loose with any number of attacks at a moment’s notice. “Well, I suppose I’ll just have to show you what I mean, the hard way!” 

Shutumon didn’t know _every_ Digimon in the Digital World, but she could recognize quite a few of the ones that surfaced out of the river at Ranamon’s whistled command. She didn’t have a chance to identify all of them before water came whipping out of the river as well, knocking her across the clearing she and Saberdramon had been having lunch in, and slamming hard against an outcropping of rock. 

“You don’t have to worry,” Ranamon tittered, still standing on the water. “We’re not going to _kill_ you. That’s not what I want to do.” 

She started to twirl her finger, more columns of water rising up all around her. “But you’re probably going to wish that I did before we’re done with you.” 

Shutumon pulled herself off of the rock and crouched, a low growl deep in her throat. “Ranamon, whatever you’ve got planned, I’m not going to let you succeed!” 

“But I already _am_ succeeding!” Ranamon laughed again, the dark clouds of her attack beginning to form. 

“Night Roar!” 

A blast of black feathers soared past Shutumon to slam into Ranamon and her small army. Shutumon snapped her head around to see Saberdramon with wings outspread, talons clutching at the air, eyes sharp and dangerous. 

“You will leave Shutumon alone!” Saberdramon declared. “This is _my_ home, not yours!” 

“I will?” Ranamon laughed, brushing the feathers off of her. “We’ll see about that! Slide Evolution!” 

In moments Calamaramon wavered there, trying hard to keep her balance with her tentacles. Two of them that weren’t necessary for that rose upward, suckers turned toward Saberdramon for a few brief seconds before slamming forward, crashing into the giant bird and sending her spiraling backward. 

It took less than a breath to happen, far too fast for Shutumon to do anything, especially not when some of the other Digimon swarmed toward her, attacks of various kinds launching as well. Keeping away from those took up all of her attention, to the point where she couldn’t move away from one without putting herself in danger of being hit by another one. 

Everything but the need to avoid being hit and try to attack back when an opportunity presented itself slipped out of her mind. It wasn’t easy. It bordered on the impossible, in fact. 

She could see two attacks heading toward her now, and dropped out of their way, spinning in a quick circle to slide away from them. She whirled herself around in time to see the attacks hitting two other Digimon, backing them out of reach for a few seconds. 

_I wonder..._ She didn’t have time to plan it out. She just had to do it, and hope that it accomplished something. 

She couldn’t keep an eye on Saberdramon during this. All she could do was dart and dodge and get clipped by some attacks and avoid other ones as agilely as she could to lead them to striking other targets. 

The longer she flew, however, the more exhaustion’s tentacles wrapped themselves around her, as powerful as Calamaramon’s own limbs. The Warrior of Water’s laugh rose up over all of the sounds of battle louder and louder. She appeared to confine her attacks to Saberdramon, and the small part of Shutumon’s mind that wasn’t devoted to fighting wondered why. 

There wasn’t any chance to think on it, especially not with how tired she was. Her attacks grew slower and slower, her breath hitched and burned in her lungs, and she couldn’t move out of the way as fast anymore. 

“Do it!” Ranamon cried, and Shutumon turned with just enough time to see a surge of energy blazing toward … Saberdramon? 

The decision came in a single moment. That attack, a combination of more than half of the Digimon who came with Ranamon, would definitely end with Saberdramon turning into an egg. But it wouldn’t do that to her. Legendary Warriors didn’t become eggs. 

In truth, she didn’t know what would happen. 

Dredging up an extra surge of strength and speed from somewhere, Shutumon forged a quick path between herself and Saberdramon, getting there just in time to have the aerial whirlpool of twisted attacks slam into her and knock her out of the sky, spinning downward to the river spread out beneath her. 

Somewhere in the distance, she thought she saw something moving toward her. Her eyes closed even as the tiny dots came closer, and she hoped they weren’t reinforcements for Ranamon. 

**To Be Continued**

**Notes:** Fight scenes are not fun. Not for anyone.


	7. Chapter 7

**Word Count:** 12,428/39,160|| **Chapter Count:** 5/22

* * *

Part of Junpei wanted to thank whoever it was that started this fight. If it weren’t for the attacks flying everywhere, then they might not have seen what was going on and headed over that way. He kept on rushing; he couldn’t be certain if this involved Izumi-chan, but he had to _know_. 

Then something silvery caught his attention, arcing downward, and he caught his breath as he saw something else: a tunnel of water blasting toward the falling figure, wrapping around it, and then pulling backwards. 

“No!” He pushed himself forward, wishing he could fly as fast as a lightning bolt. But his armor held him back, and no one else was quite fast enough to do it either. 

_Maybe it wasn’t her. Maybe it’s someone else._ He wanted to think that. But while he couldn’t see who the various Digimon there were, he could hear a very familiar voice laughing, the sound rising above everything else. 

“Sorry, kiddies!” Ranamon declared, twirling one hand toward them just as they came close enough to see her. “But I’ve got way too many plans for you to interrupt them! Bye!” 

She dropped downward, vanishing into the river. Those water Digimon who’d been there hurried away, while the air Digimon flew out before any of the Warriors could do anything else. Only one remained, a gigantic black-feathered bird, battered and grim, talons closing hard on one of the tree branches. 

“Who are you? Was Izumi-chan here? Where did Ranamon take her?” Junpei asked, slamming hard on a high-reaching rock. 

The Digimon stared down at him, as if considering what he might taste like. A small fire burned not that far away, though the way Ranamon vanished into the water seemed to have put out at least half of it. In the mess that remained, he saw a piece of meat, too soaked to eat anymore, but with a few bites out of it. 

_Izumi-chan!_

“I am Saberdramon,” the bird said at last. “I don’t know your ‘Izumi-chan’, but Shutumon gave me aid and fought against the Legendary Warrior of Water, who took her away after knocking her out.” 

Junpei slammed his fist into the ground, wishing he knew some stronger way to express what he felt. “We were too late.” Maybe if they hadn’t stopped for lunch… they were too late either way, and they’d missed them by almost _nothing_! 

Kouji rested a hand on his shoulder and Junpei gave him a quiet look of thanks. Takuya moved closer to look at Saberdramon. 

“How is she? Is she all right?” 

Saberdramon didn’t speak up at first, but looked at each one of them in turn. “You are her friends? The other Legendary Warriors that she spoke of?” 

“Yes.” Takuya nodded right away. “What else can you tell us?” 

“She appeared all right to me. I was not myself when I first saw her, but she cleansed me with her power.” Saberdramon clicked her beak together. “She wanted to find you as soon as she could, but Ranamon interrupted before she could start looking again.” 

Junpei pushed himself up as tall as he could make himself. “Did she say anything at all about where she was taking Izumi-chan?” 

“Nothing at all.” Saberdramon shook her head now before leaning down to scoop up the piece of water-soaked meat and swallowing it in a single bite. “If I were you, I would start searching as soon as possible. I doubt that Ranamon plans to do anything good to your friend, not with that sigil on her.” 

Junpei couldn’t have agreed fast enough if he’d tried. “Which way should we go this time?” He looked up and down the river, hoping for some kind of clue on which way Ranamon could possibly have gone. He saw nothing. The river simply rolled from one side to the other, calm and peaceful, as if Ranamon herself had never touched it at all. 

* * *

Ranamon grunted as her water tentacles dropped Shutumon onto the ground. She stepped out of her liquid and brushed herself off, staring down at the unconscious Warrior of Wind. 

“Well, you’re not all that pretty now, are you?” Ranamon laughed at the bruised and battered form before her, mud splattering on her formerly shiny armor and a few streaks over her face and hair. Ranamon liked to see her like this. The more battered, the better. 

There wasn’t any kind of a response, and only the rise and fall of her chest showed Ranamon that Shutumon remained alive. That, and she kind of thought if she wasn’t, she would’ve turned into an egg. 

Maybe. Did that happen to humans wearing Digimon spirits? It wasn’t a thing that happened often enough so anyone knew for certain. 

Well, she’d done enough dragging Shutumon here in the first place. The silly human Digimon could take care of anything else herself, if Ranamon let her do anything at all. Bringing her here had been a split second decision, sparked by seeing the other humans coming toward them. The very thought of Shutumon having any sort of comfort from those ‘friends’ of hers wasn’t allowed in the slightest. 

Now the question of just what to do with her needed to be dealt with. Shutumon could take care of her injuries, if she wanted to. But what did _Ranamon_ want to do with her? 

Then the idea burst into her mind, and Ranamon cackled, thoroughly enjoying it. Oh, this was going to be so amazing! 

* * *

Shutumon scrunched her eyes closed even harder and wished she could hear something that wasn’t Ranamon laughing. She wasn’t sure why she heard it in the first place, but it echoed all around, banging into her ears, and wrecking what little sleep she thought she could get. If sleep was the right word to use. Anyway, it wasn’t what she wanted to hear. 

When it finally died down, she tried to crack open one eye and figure out where she was and how she’d gotten there. Seeing only the spread of the ocean out before her, that didn’t give her nearly enough answers that she liked. Combined with Ranamon’s laughter, what answers she did have were ones that she didn’t like at all. 

Up in the air, she thought, and suited actions to words, wanting to feel the wind around her, to get herself put back together as much as she could. 

At least she tried. She’d barely made it her own height off the ground before finding herself unable to move any further. Looking down, she saw the problem right away: a thick rope wrapped around her waist, keeping her from going too far. 

“Well, hello there!” Ranamon appeared next to her, scarlet eyes dancing with smug satisfaction. “I see you’ve already found you can’t go anywhere right now.” 

Shutumon stared at her enemy, trying to ignore how much her head spun and that she wanted something edible. She didn’t know how long she’d been unconscious, but it felt to her like it had been far too long since she’d had that little meal with Saberdramon. 

“Aren’t you going to say anything?” Ranamon poked her with one finger and Shutumon slapped at it. “That’s more like it! Now, I’m going to tell you what is going to happen and you’re going to listen to me.” 

Shutumon just rolled her eyes. “I haven’t ever listened to you before, what makes you think that I’m going to start now?” 

“Because if you don’t, you’re never going to be a human again. And _I_ can decide when you are one, or if you are one. No one else.” Ranamon smirked at her. “I’m the one who put that sigil on you, so I’m the only one who can take it off.” 

She poked Shutumon between the eyes . “Which means if you want it off, you’re gonna have ot do whatever I want you to do.” 

Absolute silence fell between them, until Shutumon shook her head. “I’m not going to be your slave, Ranamon!” 

“Yes, you will, because you don’t have any choice! You’ll do anything that I tell you to do and you’ll be quick about it.” Ranamon grinned harder at her. “You can do what I want, or I can take you to Cherubimon-sama and let him rip those Spirits right after you.” She set one finger against her lips. “I suppose that would turn you human again, but what would you do without your Spirits? You’d be prey to any Digimon that wanted to hurt you, and most of the ones you’d meet there _would_ want to hurt you.” 

Her eyes glinted in raw wickedness. “And I would be one of them. So you’ve got to decide between doing what I said now or losing your Spirits and doing what I say _then_.” 

Shutumon didn’t doubt that Ranamon would do exactly as she said, if not worse. The idea of losing her Spirits to Cherubimon couldn’t even be considered. They’d gone too long keeping them as safe as they could for her to lose that now. 

She folded her arms over her chest and met Ranamon’s eyes resolutely. “What is it you want me to do?” This could give her a chance to escape if she could play her cards right. 

“Wow, you actually made the right choice! I didn’t think you were smart enough.” Ranamon laughed again before she settled herself down in the river. Shutumon could see they were still close to it… or close to _a_ river; she wasn’t sure if it was the same one or not. But Ranamon would always find a way to get herself near water. “I’m a little hungry. Bring me something to eat.” 

Shutumon rested a hand on the binding rope. “Take this off of me. I can’t go searching if I can’t move around.” 

Ranamon waved one hand airily. “That’s not my problem. You’re going to have to figure this one out on your own. But I’m not untying you.” 

Shutumon groaned and closed her eyes. This wasn’t going to be as easy as she’d thought it might be. She looked at the other end of the rope to see where it was tied, trying to work out just how much slack she had. The answer wasn’t much. The rope wrapped around a thick tree, one of those that didn’t give any kind of fruit. She thought she could climb it if necessary, but that was it. The river wasn’t too far away either. But all in all, there just wasn’t any food close at hand. 

This wasn’t going to be easy. Not that she expected it, not with Ranamon calling the shots. 

**To Be Continued**

**Notes:** Ranamon is just going to keep on enjoying herself in the worst ways she can imagine.


	8. Chapter 8

**Word Count:** 14,232/39,160|| **Chapter Count:** 8/22

* * *

Mercuremon could keep watch on multiple places at once; he’d never told Ranamon this, but water could bring reflections, and he could see through anything that could bring a reflection, whether it actually was or not at the time. 

Which meant more or less that he could watch her anywhere that she was. He didn’t do it all that often; Ranamon didn’t interest him in more than the most superficial of levels, especially since she liked to use his mirrors to check her image more than anything else. But right now, her game with the Warrior of Water had caught his attention. 

_How long is she going to drag this out, I wonder,_ he mused, eyes tracking the images he could see from that nearby river. Ranamon’s threat to turn the Wind-Warrior over to Cherubimon-sama intrigued him as well. While she might well be right and their master would rip the Spirits out of her, there were other options, and those Mercuremon found far more interesting than he wanted to admit to at the moment. 

It would hardly be the first time that Cherubimon used a human towards his own ends. He couldn’t be certain if this would happen but he liked the idea of it himself. Humans could be useful, in their proper place. 

But that would remain for Cherubimon-sama himself to decide, and while Mercuremon had his own plans, he knew when to stay to the side and let other matters unfold without him. He would remain ready to take advantage when the moment suited him. 

Not to mention that right now, watching this provided far more entertainment than he’d thought possible. 

* * *

Junpei wanted to say things. He wasn’t sure of what he wanted to say, but he wanted to anyway. He knew that he wanted to say it to Ranamon and most of it concerned how much of a complete pain she was, but that didn’t seem strong enough to him. He wasn’t sure what would _be_ strong enough, either. Nothing that he’d ever heard really seemed to fit the bill. 

Still, the more they searched for their missing friend, the more he plowed through what vocabulary he had in the effort to find something. 

_Maybe if I just throw a thunderbolt at her._ He’d read a little Greek mythology before and he knew all about how Zeus went around throwing thunder and lightning at anyone who got on his bad side. _I can see why he’d do that._

A snatch of thought brought him to wondering why one of his attacks was named after the weapon of the Norse god of thunder. He could fully understand the connection to thunder and lighting there, but why Thor in particular? Why any god at all? Why a god from Earth? What kind of connections did Earth and the Digital World really have? 

Junpei knew very well that he wasn’t thinking about what Ranamon could be doing to Izumi and _was_ thinking everything irrelevant that he possibly could manage, just so he _wouldn’t_ think about Izumi and Ranamon and everything that came from that and thus wouldn’t evolve and start blowing up everything in sight in an attempt to get the attention of the other evil Warriors and demand Izumi back. 

But just because he knew why he was thinking that and what he wanted to do if he didn’t think about that didn’t mean that he still didn’t want to do it. If Mercuremon or Arbormon or even Ranamon somehow turned up, he would unleash every ounce of anger that he had in him on them. 

“All right, which way do we go now?” Kouji asked, bringing Junpei out of his turmoil of thoughts. He looked around to see where they were. 

As always, they’d followed the river. They needed to find Ranamon and that seemed the easiest way to do it. Ahead of them there stretched a long plain, the river winding its way through it, with a few trees cropping up here and there. About halfway through the plain, the river diverted into two directions. The way it diverted left a rise in the middle of the valley, on which a small village rested. Junpei couldn’t tell from where they were if there were any Digimon there or not. But the river itself flowed differently from there, one branch going to the right, one going to the left. 

“You think the people there might know anything about where Ranamon could be?” Takuya asked, rubbing the back of his head. He cast a glance toward the sky. “Or maybe have a place we can stay for the night?” 

“We can’t stop - “ Junpei started, then stopped the moment he saw Tomoki drooping over. They’d pushed themselves hard ever since Ranamon’s attack separated them from Izumi, and the little guy was on his last legs. He’d gotten a lot tougher since they’d started their journey, but everyone had limits. 

Junpei did his level best not to admit that _he_ could use some sleep as well. He was the oldest; he had to set a good example here. So he quickly changed what he had in mind to say. 

“We can’t stop for too long. Just overnight.” He hated the thought, but even Ranamon had to sleep sometime, right? She’d surely want her ‘beauty sleep’ and that would give them time to rest too. That was all that let him handle this. 

“Right,” Takuya nodded, giving another look to the village up there. “What is that place, anyway?” 

Bokomon flipped through the pages of his book, though Junpei didn’t know if that was to look up information or just to give himself something to do with his hands right now. “That is Middle Town. So named because it’s in the middle of the river.” 

Junpei and Kouji rolled their eyes in near unison, but Bokomon kept on talking. “According to the book here, there is a seer who lives there who can find almost anyone. Perhaps we can ask for assistance there.” 

No sooner did they hear that, then all of them started for the village with what energy they had left. It might not be a trail that panned out, but it would be something to keep them hopeful for a while anyway. 

* * *

Middle Town looked a great deal like the other towns and villages they’d seen during their months in the Digital World: a collection of homes and buildings to market in, all of them made to suit the various Digimon who lived and worked there, and very few of the inhabitants ever had heard of humans, let alone knew what one looked like. 

“Let’s find a place to stay first,” decided Kouji, ever-practical when it came to the significant points of eating and sleeping. 

“I think that place says it’s an inn?” Tomoki pointed to one of the slightly larger buildings, then looked up at all of the older Warriors. “Uh, does anyone have any money? You have to pay to stay at an inn.” 

For a few moments no one did anything at all, then everyone started to check their pockets for anything at all they could use for a night’s rest and food. Getting money in the Digital World worked much like the human world: you had to get a job and earn it. Most of the time they couldn’t do anything that took more than a couple of days, since their journey and mission had to come first. But sometimes they could save a little. 

Sometimes. 

“I’ve got a little,” Kouji finally said, showing a few coins. “Takuya? What about you?” 

Their more-or-less leader turned his pockets inside out. “I spent the last of mine at that place we stopped at the other day. You know, the one with those really cool ice cream sodas.” 

More than one of them gave a very annoyed grunt at that, though Kouji’s was the loudest. Junpei stared at the small pile he pulled out of his own pockets, then something else: his very last chocolate bar. 

“Maybe we can trade this for something,” he said, holding it up. “Those Digimon back in the Fire Village liked it a lot.” He would never, ever forget what it felt like to nearly be chewed alive. But if this could help, he’d give it up. 

He kind of would have preferred to give it to Izumi-chan, but it didn’t look as if that would be a thing for way too long. So he’d do what he could with it. 

Almost as one the group headed down to the inn. No one mentioned how wrong it felt not to have Izumi there with them. 

Everyone missed her ten times more when they stood in front of the innkeeper. After all this time in the Digital World, they’d become used to a lot of things. Meeting a four legged Digimon who clearly owned and ran this place shouldn’t have even cracked the top twenty of ‘most unusual’. 

“So you’re the humans with the Legendary Warrior spirits,” Lighdramon said, raising his head to stare at them. He whiffed air through his nose. “Some of them, anyway.” 

Takuya nodded right away. “We kind of need a place to stay for the night, if that’s okay?” He settled their meagre bag of coins, along with Junpei’s chocolate bar, on the counter between the two of them. “Is this enough?” 

Lighdramon brought his head closer to the coins and sniffed, then did the same to the chocolate. Junpei winced; he knew chocolate wasn’t good for human dogs… for dogs on Earth… but Lighdramon kind of resembled a dog or a wolf or something with four legs anyway. If it was the same for them, would he get mad and accuse them of poisoning him? 

Worse, what if he worked for Cherubimon? They couldn’t really trust all that blindly, could they? Even Saberdramon had been corrupted, until Izumi-chan took care of it! 

_I wish I’d seen that._ He couldn’t help the mental sigh. It would have been spectacular. 

Lighdramon turned his head toward a door. “Get out here!” 

None of them had any idea of what he meant until a tall Digimon covered in flame-patterned armor stepped out. He looked from Lighdramon to them, then to the counter, and reached for the candy bar. 

“Hands off until we make a deal,” Lighdramon snapped. “You know the rules, Fladramon.” 

Fladramon almost pouted. At least Junpei thought that he did. Lighdramon turned back to them. 

“Is this all you’ve got?” 

Takuya nodded. “We could do some chores or something if it’s not enough? We really just need one night. We’ll be gone tomorrow.” 

“And,” Bokomon put in, “we need to know where to find Mistymon.” 

Both Fladramon and Lighdramon eyed them, and Junpei wondered if this had been a bad idea. 

**To Be Continued**

**Notes:** What happens next? A later chapter will tell you. There are other characters to check in with!


	9. Chapter 9

**Word Count:** 16,007/39,160|| **Chapter Count:** 9/22

* * *

Cherubimon always knew what his warriors were doing. In all honesty, when one had a group of Digimon that included Mercuremon and Ranamon, it was best to keep a close eye on the situation. He knew quite well that he could defeat any of them with barely a flicker of effort, but he preferred not to waste the energy having to do so. A few quiet words at the correct time gave him the results that he wanted with minimum effort. 

_They are quite amusing as well._ Especially when they had no idea that he watched and was amused by their antics. As humans said, one couldn’t pay for enertainment such as this. 

He’d already received a great deal of amusement from watching Mercuremon attempt to hide thaht he’d taken Seraphimon’s data with intent to use it for his own goals instead of handing it over. It would have been useful to do so, but Cherubimon wanted to see what Mercuremon would – and could – do with it. Once his Steel Warrior satisfied his curiosity on that score, it would be effortless to take the data away from him. 

And now he watched Ranamon’s games with the Warrior of Wind. The initial idea he approved of: using the skills of a fallen warrior to achieve her goals. Granted, she hadn’t bothered to learn all the fine points of sigil and sealing magic and that would more than likely be a point she’d come to regret before this little diversion came to an end. 

_Perhaps I should use this as a lesson for Duskmon in what not to do._

He considered that for a few moments before choosing otherwise. Duskmon wasn’t at all like Ranamon; he might fixate on someone – Cherubimon’s wager laid on the Warrior of Light – but he would simply desire to slaughter the other, not to play games of humiliation. He’d made a point to ensure that already. Death was far preferable than simply toying around with one’s prey. 

But entertainment remained entertainment and he would allow Ranamon the option of playing with her food for a short time. Once this ceased to be amusing, Cherubimon already knew he would take the Spirits of Wind for his own. 

* * *

Ranamon tapped one foot, glaring at her fuming captive. “I’m getting _really hungry_ over here! Where’s that food?” 

Shutumon glared back at her. Ranamon wanted to make a point to keep her enemy weak; Shutumon could really cause a lot of damage if she were strong enough. That would absolutely wreck Ranamon’s day and it had been going well so far. 

“Well?” There really wasn’t any food around here. She’d also made a point of clearing all of it out of there before Shutumon even woke up in the first place. 

“There isn’t any!” Shutumon declared, hands on her hips. “What, do you think I can just make it appear?” 

“A real Digimon would know how to get food from almost anywhere,” Ranamon pointed out. She smirked; there was a grove of fruit trees not all that far off. Too far for Shutumon to see it from where they were, of course. But she’d stop by there once she’d had enough fun here. 

The problem with that was that she had no idea of how long that would take. 

She grinned even more wickedly at Shutumon. “Aren’t you a Digimon? Don’t you know these things? What kind of a Digimon _are_ you?” 

She rammed a finger into Shutumon’s face, not waiting for an answer. “You’re a _fake_ Digimon! That’s what you are! Doesn’t matter how _pretty_ anyone thinks you are!” 

Shutumon blinked a few times, then tilted her head. “Is this still about you thinking I’m prettier than you?” 

Ranamon squealed, fingers flexing, holding herself back from a barrage of slaps by the thinnest of margins. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to, not at all. But she had other plans, at least for right now. 

“You’re not prettier than me! You’re not! You’re just a human and there’s no way a human could ever be prettier than a Digimon! Especially not me!” 

Shutumon sighed and rolled her eyes. “Don’t you have anything else to do with your time? I thought we were fighting a war. Isn’t that kind of more important?” 

“If I take you out, no matter why, then that will help Cherubimon-sama!” Ranamon declared. “That’s what matters!” That, and she’d prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was the most beautiful Digimon who had ever lived. 

A faint whisper of memory flicked through, of a glorious mansion and two Digimon… Ranamon shoved that thought away without hesitation. That had been long ago, almost an entire year, and she wasn’t going to worry about them ever again. 

Not when she had so much else to worry about and enjoy herself with. 

Shutumon leaned her head back and closed her eyes. “Did you know that I don’t care if I’m prettier than you or not?” 

“Did you know I don’t care if you don’t care?” Ranamon shot back, grabbing onto the rope and tugging on it hard. “You’re going to do what I want you to do! You’re a prisoner, remember? You’re _my_ prisoner!” 

“If there’s no food around here, then I can’t find it. You’re going to have to do it yourself.” 

Ranamon squealed, yanking even harder on the rope, wishing she dared strangle Shutumon with it. That face wouldn’t be so pretty when she was all blue and screaming for air!! Air that even being the Warrior of Wind wouldn’t give her! 

Shutumon grabbed for the rope and Ranamon pulled it tighter, cackling harder when Shutumon couldn’t get a good grip on it. 

“See? A real Digimon wouldn’t be held like that! You’re just a fake! There’s nothing you can do about it, either!” Ranamon shrieked, looping a bit of the remaining rope around Shutumon’s arms, binding them tighter to her body. 

Shutumon wanted to say something – or at least Ranamon thought she did from the way that she kept flailing and clawing at the ropes – but every time it looked like she could get a breath in, Ranamon tightened her grip even more. She didn’t want to hear a word being said and nothing was going to change that! 

* * *

Shutumon clawed even harder at the rope binding her. Even with Ranamon pulling it, then it shouldn’t have been like that. But try as hard as she might, she couldn’t get it to slacken in the slightest. 

What she needed was air, and plenty of it. Just to breathe, just to give herself time to _think_. With every moment, the rope’s grip grew tighter, and Ranamon’s laughter echoed deeper and with far more pain in her ears. 

She dragged her eyes open, staring blankly at Ranamon’s cackling features and what she could see of the rope right now. 

_Glowing?_ She thought it was but she couldn’t be sure. If she were seeing something… 

The idea flowered and she knew she had to work it before Ranamon had any idea of what she had in mind. 

She raised up one foot and slammed it into Ranamon’s stomach as hard as she could. Ranamon stumbled back, her grip on the rope loosening a fraction. Not enough, not nearly enough to loosen it enough so she could get it off of her. She’d need Ranamon to do that for her, or at least Ranamon to not be there. 

And since she couldn’t get rid of Ranamon right now, not with her strength being as low as it was, then it was in her best interests to make certain Ranamon wanted to get the rope off of her. 

The water Digimon fell backwards at her kick, the rope slackening as her grip loosened. She still didn’t drop it; after the kind of day Shutumon had, she wasn’t even surprised. 

Ranamon squawked when she hit the ground, though, and for a vital few moments she didn’t move at all. Shutumon took advantage of that, dropping forward to pin Ranamon down, and wrap a length of the rope around her. 

“What do you think you’re doing?” Ranamon shouted a heartbeat later, clawing at the rope as hard as Shutumon had, and with as little effect. “Stop that! Let me go!” 

Shutumon pulled harder on the rope. It stayed around Ranamon’s shoulders, keeping her pinned so she couldn’t slide evolve or do any of her attacks, but Shutumon knew she couldn’t keep it like that forever. Ranamon had better leverage than she did and would probably be able to get out of this. 

At least she would if Shutumon let her relax and think about it. Shutumon didn’t intend to let her do that at all. 

“Not unless you let _me_ go too! And that means getting rid of this, too!” She jerked her head to where the sigil still faintly glowed. How it stayed there even after her repeated dunkings in water Shutumon didn’t know, but there it was, keeping her in her Beast form. 

Ranamon snarled, shaking her head. “No! You can’t make me!” 

“If you don’t, I’m not going to let you go,” Shutumon declared, a harsh growl in her voice. “I’ll find a way to take those spirits from _you_.” 

“You can’t do that!” Was Ranamon afraid? Was that _fear_ Shutumon smelled? 

She didn’t usually like people being afraid of her, but at the moment she really didn’t care, not if it got her free of the rope and sigil and on her way back to her friends. 

“I think I already did.” Shutumon leaned over Ranamon. “So what’s it going to be?” 

Ranamon tried to bring her arms up and shove at her. There wasn’t nearly enough strength there to do anything at all. Shutumon’s eyes narrowed. Something really wasn’t going right around here. 

“You don’t understand!” Ranamon wailed, batting at the rope. “This is a _magic_ rope! Anyone tied with it can’t escape by themselves! You couldn’t get out of it, and now _I_ can’t get out of it!” 

Shutumon stared for a heartbeat, then began to laugh, not at all knowing where the air came from to do so, nor did she care. 

Ranamon glared at her as if her laughter were some kind of personal affront. “And what’s so funny? We’re _trapped_!” 

“And that’s what’s so funny.” Shutumon drew in a breath, trying to calm herself. She wasn’t doing very well with being calm, at least not on the inside. But she tried. 

Ranamon didn’t at all stop glaring. Shutumon wasn’t surprised by that, either. “This is all your fault!” 

And all that did was make Shutumon laugh even more. 

**To Be Continued**

**Notes:** You know, we’re not even at the halfway point yet.


	10. Chapter 10

**Word Count:** 19,790/39,180|| **Chapters:** 10/22

* * *

“Why would you think that we know where to find Mistymon?” Fladramon asked, not taking his eyes off of them. Takuya shrugged, looking down at Bokomon and Neemon. This was their part of the bargain. 

Or at least it was Bokomon’s. Takuya wasn’t going to count on Neemon to bargain for anything, not even the air that he breathed. 

Bokomon coughed and crossed his hands behind his back. Given the way he had Seraphimon’s egg tucked in there, that presented a very strange picture, one that Takuya tried very hard not to think about. 

“We require Mistymon’s services to locate the Warrior of Wind. We have...misplaced her.” 

Junpei snorted at that. “You make it sound like she’s a lost sock or something! Ranamon kidnapped her!” 

Again Fladramon and Lighdramon exchanged glances, so quick that Takuya wondered if he’d imagined it. Then Lighdramon looked back at them. 

“We have three rooms that need cleaning. Take care of that, along with what you’ve offered her,” he said, indicating the small pile of money and chocolate, “and we’ll let you stay here overnight, along with dinner and breakfast.” 

Bokomon started to say something else, probably asking about Mistymon again, and Takuya override him right away. 

“Thanks! We’ll get right on it!” They could hunt for Mistymon later. Rest and food and working for the rest and food first. 

Lighdramon rose to his feet, while Fladramon gathered up their payment and tucked it somewhere out of sight. 

“Follow me,” the four footed Digimon said, coming out from behind his counter and heading for the stairs going upwards. The group followed, all of them far wearier than they wanted to let on. 

Takuya wondered just how tired Izumi was and how she was going to get dinner and rest tonight. Ranamon probably wasn’t going to be the most polite host in the Digital World. Which really just led to the whole point of this all over again: they needed to find her. 

He could hear Bokomon grumbling as they headed down what looked like the only hallway in the building, and Neemon saying something that he probably intended to be comforting. He would have listened harder, if Lighdramon didn’t start talking. 

“These are the best rooms in the house. We had some special guests who left this morning and we haven’t had time yet to give them a proper cleaning. That’s what you’re going to do.” 

Takuya nodded; it wouldn’t be the first time they’d cleaned or cooked or whatever to get what they needed. He wondered if his parents would ever believe he’d clean someone else’s room for a plate of food. 

At the far end of the hallway, Lighdramon nosed a door open. “This is the first one. I’ll take you to the other two once you’re done here.” 

Kouji eyed the room without stepping into it. “Why don’t we split up and work on them all at the same time?” 

“Because you’re going to want every hand you’ve got to deal with all of these,” Lighdramon said. He indicated for them to enter with a jerk of his head. “Go on and see.” 

Kouji and Takuya exchanged a quick glance of their own, and Takuya carefully peeked into the room, eyes flicking everywhere. Then he looked back out at everyone else. 

“We are definitely earning dinner tonight.” 

In point of fact, Takuya thought they would earn dinner, breakfast, and lunch, even if they didn’t get it. He also would have been absolutely thrilled if Izumi had been there. An extra pair of hands could only help. 

The room wasn’t exactly trashed. It was really more of a ‘demolished’ kind of effect. Takuya wasn’t sure if he even had the words to describe it, if someone had asked him to do so. There had been a bed. It was still there, but more of a bed-frame, with the mattress halfway to the window, and heaven only knew where the sheets were. Chairs pushed into configurations that no chairs would reasonably have been in and boxes that held traces of food of some kind in them. Takuya would have guessed that on Earth, these would have been takeout. 

Junpei, Kouji, and Tomoki all peeked into the room, then stared at him in rising forms of shock. 

“How are we going to clean _this_?” Junpei wanted to know. “We’re not miracle workers!” 

“I know, I know!” Takuya did his best to wave his hands when what he really wanted to do was agree with them and go see if they could find somewhere else to stay with less of an asking price. 

If he’d had any idea of where they could find another hotel in this place, preferably one that did have a lower asking price, he would have at least asked the others if they were up for that. As it was, he stared at the room and tried to decide where they should get started. 

“We can do it!” Tomoki chirped even through his evident tiredness. “There’s enough of us!” 

Junpei cast a glance at him at the same time that Kouji and Takuya did. Takuya considered for a moment, then turned to Lighdramon. 

“We’re going to need some trash bags. And clean sheets.” And probably a miracle or two, but trash bags and sheets would be a good place to start. 

“Of course. Once you’re done, send someone to let me know.” Lighdramon started back down the hallway while the small group stared at the room some more. 

Silence fell as soon as Lighdramon vanished from sight, paws clicking down the stairs. Takuya broke it first. 

“Let’s get started. The sooner we get it done, the better. Tomoki, you can start with the trash, but be careful with it. Bokomon, Neemon, give him a hand? Junpei, think you can work on those chairs?” 

There were nods all around, the named people heading off to their assigned tasks. Kouji tilted his head towards Takuya. 

“So what did you want us to do? And don’t tell me you didn’t have _us_ in mind.” 

Takuya rubbed the back of his head. He would have been lying if he’d said otherwise, after all. 

“I was thinking we could get the bed set up again once there’s room enough. It would take two of us.” He hoped it would only take two. 

Kouji gave him a steady look before he stepped closer, voice pitched low. “You want to make sure they don’t stress themselves worrying, don’t you?” He jerked his eyes briefly toward Junpei and Tomoki, busily setting the chairs into more or less order and picking up trash. 

Takuya followed his gaze for a moment, then looked back, the sweetest and most confused of smiles slipping over his lips. 

“What are you talking about? Would I do something like that?” 

Kouji glared at him harder than ever and opened his mouth, clearly with the intent of telling Takuya what an idiot he was being. Takuya had heard it before, all of it from Kouji, and grinned even harder. He didn’t have a chance to say anything else since a small blue Digimon appeared at the door, half-buried under the pile of clean sheets. 

“Lighdramon sent these!” He chirped. “Thanks for your help!” 

Takuya quickly went to gather them up, so glad for the interruption. He could almost feel Kouji rolling his eyes behind him. At least getting started on their part of the work would stop the questions. 

At least that was what he hoped. He really didn’t want to talk about that where Tomoki or Junpei could hear them. 

The problem with that was that Kouji could be the master of finding ways to drag Takuya off to talk about things Takuya would rather not talk about. Better to clean while they could, and maybe Kouji would figure out some things didn’t need to be talked about. 

Maybe. 

* * *

“Are you sure this is such a good idea?” Fladramon murmured as the door closed behind V-mon and the pile of sheets. 

Lighdramon shrugged, heading back to his usual resting place behind the counter. 

“We needed the rooms cleaned anyway. Just as well that we get someone else to do it. It will save time and we get some work done.” 

Fladramon puffed out a small breath of smoke. “That’s not what I meant.” 

“I know.” Lighdramon looked over his shoulder at him. “But what else are we going to do?” 

That got a shrug from Fladramon. “We could have sent to the fortuneteller’s fair and let them deal with this.” 

“More of them are frauds than aren’t and I suspect they know that.” 

“But trusting Mistymon to _humans_?” Fladramon’s fingers clenched and unclenched. “I don’t care if they’re supposed to be Legendary Warriors. We’ve never had humans here before.” 

Lighdramon settled into his place. “Our other option is to deal with Cherubimon and _his_ warriors. Would they leave anything of this place if we did?” 

Fladramon winced at the words alone. He didn’t quite admit that his partner had a point, but Lighdramon did and Fladramon knew it very well. 

“Then when should I?” 

“Wait until they’ve finished. Just because we’re doing this doesn’t mean we need to do it fast.” Lighdramon’s jaw dropped in a canine smile. “And I might find a few other odd jobs for them to handle before they’re ready to leave.” 

Fladramon eyed him for another few moments, then snorted. “You’re going to wear them down to nothing, aren’t you?” 

Lighdramon smiled even more, tongue hanging happily over his teeth. “Why shouldn’t I? They’re going to have at least two meals each on us. That’s twelve meals we could have been fully paid for. We aren’t running this in for free, cousin.” 

Fladramon laughed, lounging himself in his own cushioned chair across from Lighdramon. “I suppose you’re right on that. This time.” He leaned forward, grinning widely. “And I don’t have to wait until they’re done to have the chocolate, do I?” 

Lighdramon tossed his head, paws crossed over one another. “I suppose not. Go ahead.” Chocolate was rare enough around here. Travelers said that it grew on trees in some parts of the Digital World, or even flowed from fountains and springs. How these humans came by it he didn’t know, but he thought he might ask before they left. Feeding Fladramon’s sweet tooth would be worth a few extra hours of work. 

But that could come later. Right now, he had to make certain that they did everything he asked before he had them served dinner. It would be a good dinner, of course. He paid even temporary help well. 

Even when doing so risked the disapproval of Cherubimon and his warriors. 

**To Be Continued**

**Notes:** Next time we check on Izumi and Ranamon!


End file.
